Ian Williams, fret-tapping guitarist for Pittsburgh “math rock” pioneers Don Caballero, put together an even more wildly avant garde trio when he recruited bassist Eric Ehm (who would soon join Don Cab) and drummer Kevin Shear for Storm & Stress. The group took their moniker from the famous German literary movement Sturm und Drang, and released their self-titled debut in 1997. Three years later there followed their lone follow-up, UNDER THUNDER & FLUORESCENT LIGHTS. Both records were comprised primarily of difficult-to-digest experiments in dissonance, distorted ambience, and deconstructed rhythms and time signatures.